Pinwheel Bandsaw box... closing kerfs

[sbarton22]

I was looking at this pinwheel box. At step 12, it says to glue the body together (to close the kerfs). How do you go about doing that? How do you clamp it? Does it that the triangle form out of whack?

Any help or a pic would be greatly appreciated.

[joestyles]

A band clamp and or tape would be what I would use on it. I might also use two pieces of ply to go on the top and bottom to help keep it aligned after I applied the band clamp around the points of the triangle. Dry clamp it first to ensure you have all the clamps ready to go and that it will work remember the glue might make it slide a bit to so be ready to address this if it happens. The force you need here is gonna be less hopefully than you would use for a more structural glue joint. The base when glued on will provide a lot of strength to the piece. Elastic bands or bands of rubber from an old inner tube might work here too. The important part is to ensure you have no visible gaps here. If you try to clamp this you could do it with home made wedges made from scraps to ensure the clamps apply the pressure where you want. I think Marc covers this in one of his videos on the site. The trestle table leg glue up shows some of this. http://thewoodwhisperer.com/trestle-table-pt-2/ starts about 9 minutes in. He discusses clamping at angles to the piece. If you had the cut offs from the project this might help. I hope this points you in the right direction.

[sbarton22]

I'm not quite sure I understand. Once I apply the band clamp, that applies equal pressure around the exterior. Good idea here. I will definitely try that. So that will close the exterior kerf. Doesn't that know the triangle edges out of plumb? Or is it so minimal that some sanding gets us back to straight?

Then, I don't see how you torque the center "Y" shape into flush. I guess clamps all jammed in there with some wedges will work? Then again, aren't I going to pull the other 2 sides of the triangle out of whack? Or, am I way over thinking it and the effect is minimal and sanding can repair?

Maybe part of my misunderstanding is that I have never made a bandsaw box and I don't know that closing the kerf is really no big deal?

[joestyles]

I think this is the time to think about it. Too late once the glue is dry. So band clamp around the outside. spring clamps to hold the kerfs together or tape them. They need to be held together firmly because the cuts are angled too much pressure on the outside will push them out of alignment. They need to have good contact with each other but the base will provide the strength for this joint when it is glued on in the next stage. So step one try the band clamp around the outside step two take two strips of wood and apply them with spring clamps to hold the kerfs together use wax paper or plastic bag to keep them from sticking to the piece. Look carefully to see that the kerfs have no gaps. If they do try to work them together by tightening the band clamp slowly or loosening it. You may have to use heavier clamps on the wood strips to hold the alignment. this operation is less about pressure than about good alignment. Clamping a piece of 3 quarter ply to the bottom may help as well with alignment so the piece does not bow or shift that way. Most important is to do it dry first then when you figure you have all the problems worked out glue it. If you get the glue on there and it wont do what you want you can always remove it clean the glue off and rethink it. I hope this helps and please if my explanation is not clear ask me to clear it up.

Thanks.

[sbarton22]

AYE! This clears it up now. I can picture it. I was thinking about maximum pressure and that made me think about torque. Just you saying that loosening the clamp might be part of the solution clears it up.

Ok, now I am amped up to try this one.

Thanks!!